Apparatus for stapling sheets into pads



June 23, 1970 J DE c s ET AL 3,516,589

APPARATUS FOR STAPLING SHEETS INTO PADS Filed June 28, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 fi INVENTORS I Dominick fiefi'ahcis James M Hacks 0013 7. .Sfaa, 5/3- United States Patent Ofiice 3,516,589 Patented June 23, 1970 APPARATUS FOR STAPLING SHEETS INTO PADS Dominick J. De Francis, 413 Eastman Road, Northwood,

and James M. Fooks, 31 Paschal] Road, Shellburne,

both of Wilmington, Del. 19803, and Louis T. Staats,

Sr., Rte. 1, Lincoln University, Pa. 19352 Filed June 28, 1967, Ser. No. 649,605 Int. Cl. B271? 7/06 US. Cl. 227-'7 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A horizontal trough-shaped holder adapted to receive a set of vertical, juxtaposed sheets which are to be stapled This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for stapling sheets into pads, of the general type disclosed in our earlier United States Pat. No. 3,191,838 issued June 29, 1965, and Pat. No. 3,248,033 issued Apr. 26, 1966.

The apparatus in the aforementioned patents includes a trough-shaped holder having a loading station for receiving a set of sheets, a stapling station with one or more stapling positions, and conveyor means for delivering the sheets from the loading station against stops in the stapling station so that the sheets are properly edge aligned prior to stapling. Also, in the latter of the two mentioned patents, means are provided for jogging the sheets in the loading station into proper contact with the conveyor means.

The principal object of the present invention is to facilitate jogging and stapling of sheets which, like onion skin paper, for example, are too thin and lack sufficient body to be properly jogged and stapled by apparatus in the aforementioned patents.

This object is attained by the provision of means for imparting vibrations to the sheet holder, which causes the sheets to be advanced against the stop means and also causes edges of the sheets to be aligned prior to stapling, without the use of the aforementioned conveyor means and the jogging means. Thus, the conveyor means and the jogging means, which were of a special construction, are replaced by the vibrating means in the form of a commercially available electric vibrator, and the machine is capable of operation with greater speed and simplicity.

Moreover, while the apparatus in our prior patents has separate and distinct loading and stapling stations with one or more stapling positions in the stapling station, in the present invention the sheets are loaded into virtually the same portion of the holder in which they are subsequently stapled, so that in effect there is no necessity for edge-aligning the sheets at the loading station prior to their delivery to the stapling station since edge-alignment of the sheets takes place at the stapling station itself. Also, stapling of the sheets takes place simultaneously at two longitudinally spaced points, so that it is not necessary to advance the sheets from one stapling position to the next, as it is when stapling at the different points is done separately.

With the foregoing more important object and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal, vertical sectional view showing the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof on a reduced scale;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 33 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 4-4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 55 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic illustration showing the movement of a sheet under the vibrating action of the holder.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the apparatus for stapling sheets into pads is designated generally by the reference numeral 10. The same comprises a bench-like supporting frame 11 having a table-like top 12, the frame 11 being of any suitable construction, as for example, fabricated from angle iron, as exemplified in the drawings.

A horizontal trough-shaped sheet holder 13 is movably positioned within the frame 11, the holder including a bottom 14 and a pair of transversely spaced vertical side walls 15. The top of the holder is open so that a set of juxtaposed, vertical sheets 16 to be stapled may be inserted downwardly into the holder through a slot 17 provided in the top 12 of the frame 11. In this connection it will be noted that the holder 13 is disposed in the frame so that the open top of the holder is located below and in register with the slot 17. Moreover, portions of the top 12 at the longitudinal edges of the slot are down wardly curved as at 18 so that the sheets may be funnelled, so to speak, downwardly through the slot into the holder. Also, to facilitate entry of the sheets in the holder, the upper edge portions of the side walls 15 are laterally divergent as at 19 beyond the transverse span of the down-turned portions 18 of the top and accordingly, there is no difficulty in inserting the sheets through the slot directly into the holder.

While both ends of the holder 13 may be open as illustrated, the holder has at least one open end 15 which affords an outlet for the stapled pads, the pads being discharged through this outlet as will'be hereinafter explained.

The outlet end portion of the holder is provided with a projectable and retractable stop pin 20 which is projected and retracted by a suitable electrical, pneumatic or mechanical means (not shown) contained in a housing 21 at one side of the holder. Also, the bottom portion of the holder is provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced openings or recesses 23, affording clearance for a pair of suitably actuated conventional staplers 22 coacting with a pair of suitable anvils 24. The staplers 22 and the anvils 24 are disposed in Opposing relation at the opposite sides of the holder 13, being suitably supported by brackets 23a fixed to the machine frame 11.

It is to be noted that while our aforementioned Pat. No. 3,248,033 shows only one stapler and two stop pins at the stapling station for two successive stapling operations of the sheets at two longitudinally spaced points, the present invention employs only one stop pin 20 with two staplers 22 which are energizable simultaneously for stapling the sheets at two longitudinally spaced points at the same time, so that advancement of the sheets from one stapling position to the next is not necessary.

Means are provided for imparting vibration to the holder 13, these means comprising a suitable vibrator unit 25 which, for example, may be of the type which is commercially available under the name of Syntron. Such a unit, which is electrically actuated, is mounted on a suitable platform 26 in the frame 11. The unit has a base portion 29 with a housing 30 thereon containing the electrical actuating mechanism (not shown), with a pair of spring straps 31 anchored at one end to the base portion 29 and connected at the other end to a vibratory member or yoke 32. The actuating mechanism of the unit vibrates a post 33 connected to one of the spring straps 31 and to the yoke 32, causing the yoke to be reciprocatingly vibrated in the direction of the arrows 34. (See FIGS. 1 and 6.) The amplitude of vibration is very small, and is greatly exaggerated in FIG. 6, but it is to be noted that the vibration occurs in a plane parallel to the side walls of the holder and along a reciprocatory path which is inclined forwardly and upwardly toward the outlet end 15 of the holder. In other words, regarding the outlet end 15 of the holder as being at the forward end of the machine, the vibration is alternately in a forward-upward direction and rearward-downward direction. Thus, with reference to FIG. 6, when the sheets 16 are deposited on the bottom 14 of the holder and the holder moves in the forwardupward direction from the position shown by the full lines to that indicated by the dotted lines 14, the sheets are moved to the position 16 with suflicient energy that when the holder is returning in the rearward-downward direction, the sheets are propelled beyond the amplitude of vibration along a trajectory somewhat as indicated at 35, whereupon they fall to the bottom of the holder as at 16" at a point forwardly advanced from their initial position, as represented by the sheet travel per cycle indication 36. It will thus be apparent that successive cycles of vibration will progressively advance the sheets in the holder as shown by the arrow 39 in FIG. 1, until the sheets eventually come into abutment with the projected stop pin 20. In so doing, the vibrational movement of the holder will cause the leading vertical edges of the sheets to become transversely aligned against the stop pin and, moreover, the bottom edges of the sheets will become horizontally aligned on the bottom 14 of the holder, thus readying the sheets for the staplin operation.

This, as already noted, is performed at two longitudinally spaced points on the sheets by the simultaneously acting staplers 22 coacting with the anvils 24, so that in a single stapling operation the sheets are fastened together at two longitudinally spaced points and advancing of the sheets from one stapling position to the next is not necessary.

The aforementioned vibratory yoke 32 of the vibrator unit 30 is rigidly secured to the holder 13 in any suitable manner and the holder is supported solely by the yoke 32, so that vibration of the holder as already stated is facilitated. It will be also noted that although the staplers 22 and anvils 24 are fixedly mounted on the machine frame by the brackets 23a, vibration of the holder 13 is facilitated by the provision of the openings or recesses 23 which afford clearance for the staplers and anvils.

When the sheets are stapled together into a pad, the stop pin is retracted and vibration of the holder 15 will cause the stapled pad to be discharged through the open outlet end 15 of the holder, as for example, onto a suitable conveyor 40, or the like, by which the pad may be delivered to a stacking station or elsewhere for further disposition.

A suitable electric control with a timer (not shown) may be used for energizing and de-energizing the solenoid of the stop pin 20, the staplers 22, and the vibrator unit in proper sequence, along the lines of the control mechanism disclosed in our Pat. No. 3,248,033.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure, and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In an apparatus for stapling sheets into pads, the combination of a horizontal troughshaped holder including a narrow bottom and a pair of spaced side walls of substantially greater height than the width of said bottom open at the top of the holder to receive therebetween a set of juxtaposed sheets on edge in a substantially vertical position, said holder having an open outlet end for stapled pads, projecta-ble and retractable sheet stopping means provided in said holder adjacent said open end, means for vibrating the holder in a plane parallel to said side walls with both a perpendicular and parallel component relative to the bottom of said holder whereby juxtaposed sheets in the holder may be advanced against said stopping means for transverse alignment of vertical edges of the sheets by the stopping means and whereby bottom edges of the sheets may be horizontally aligned against the bottom of the holder, and means provided adjacent the bottom of the holder and extensible through at least one of said side walls for stapling the juxtaposed sheets together.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said stapling means are operative simultaneously at two longitudinally spaced points in said holder.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said holder vibrating means comprise a vibrator unit having a vibratory member reciprocable in said plane parallel to the side walls along a path which is inclined forwardly and upwardly in the direction of said open end of the holder, said holder being connected to said vibratory member.

4. The device as defined in claim 3 wherein said holder is supported solely by said vibratory member.

'5. The device as defined in claim 1 together with stapled pad handling means provided adjacent the open outlet end of said holder, said vibrating means being operative to advance a stapled pad through said open outlet end to said pad handling means when said stopping means are retracted.

6. The device as defined in claim 1 together with a supporting frame including a table-like top provided with a sheet-receiving slot in register with the open top of said holder.

7. The device as defined in claim 1 together with a supporting frame including a table-like top provided with a sheet-receiving slot in register with the open top of said holder, said holder vibrating means comprising a vibrator unit mounted on said frame and having a vibratory member reciprocable in said plane parallel to said side walls along a path which is inclined forwardly and upwardly in the direction of said open end of the holder, said holder being connected to said vibratory member and supported solely thereby below said slot in the table-like top of said frame.

8. The device as defined in claim 7 wherein portions of said table-like top at the longitudinal edges of said slot are downwardly turned for funnelling sheets into said holder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,481,131 9/1949 Lindsay 198-220 2,746,598 5/1956 Sherwin 198-220 3,123,199 3/1964 Easterday et al. 198-220 XR 3,191,838 6/1965 De Francis et al 227-7 3,248,033 4/1966 De Francis et al. 227

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. XJR. 227-100 

